CUED

The First Year of PRAG

1. To promote research (at universities and within community organizations) that is driven by, and can be applied to, community needs.
2. To enhance the capacity of CBOs to influence public policy initiatives by increasing their ability to conduct research, and by increasing their access to university research.
3. To increase the dialogue between university faculty, public officials and CBOs.

The PRAG internship, research assistant and apprenticeship programs have been implemented to achieve these objectives. The evaluation examines the degree to which the programs have been successful in achieving their objectives from the perspective of the participants, the sponsoring community organizations, the PRAG core and PRAG administrative staff.

Data were collected through surveys of PRAG interns, research assistants, apprentices, community organization participants, PRAG Core members and PRAG staff. There was overall agreement from the interns, community organizations and the PRAG core that the internship program has been successful in achieving the PRAG objective of promoting research (at universities and within community organizations) that is driven by, and can be applied to, community needs. Although some specific problems were mentioned, core members do not think any of the problems encountered in the first year of implementation are insurmountable.

The evaluation of the research assistant program was hampered by a low response on the survey. Although the two assistants responding thought the experience was not what it should have been, both respondents had hope for the future, and of their individual projects, and the growth and stabilization of the organizations.

The apprenticeship program, the newest of the three, seems to be off to a good start. All three of the apprentices interviewed reported very positive experiences with the program.

In its first year PRAG has made significant progress in achieving its goals of promoting research that can be applied to community needs, and to enhance the capacity of CBOs to participate in research and use to influence public policy. Already there are several examples of collaborations between university researchers and PRAG projects. The Calumet Project for Industrial Jobs enlisted an IUN organic chemist to develop an environmental early warning system. This chemist now serves on Calumet's Board of Directors. The Howard-Paulina Development Corporation is working with faculty at Loyola and University of Illinois at Chicago, and in the latter case an entire class has become involved in a joint project. Community Response is working with a professor at Loyola to study the response of west suburban Cook county communities with AlDS and HIV-positive individuals.

The processes established by PRAG to achieve its objectives seem to be working well. PRAG leadership has exhibited patience, tolerance, flexibility and willingness to change. This is a significant strength that will enable PRAG to develop productively, effectively and with an optimal degree of efficiency in the use of resources. The report suggests several changes that might be made in the following year to ensure that the processes and procedures developed continue to be effective.

The report concludes with process and program recommendations. The process recommendations cover the areas of governance/structure, decision making, communication and monitoring/evaluation. The program recommendations identify ways to strengthen the delivery of the three PRAG programs.

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UIC-Center for Urban Economic Development